For today’s music video of the day, we have one final video for the greatest song of the ’10s, Dangerous by Big Data. In this video, Big Data performs the song on the ALT98.7 FM Penthouse rooftop at the Historic Hollywood Tower.
Enjoy!
Previous Dangerous Videos:
With each passing day, I became more and more convinced that Big Data’s Dangerous is the most important song of the 2010s. No other song quite captures our paranoid times like this one:
How could you know, how could you know
That those were my eyes?
Peepin’ through the floor, it’s like they know
It’s like they know I’m looking from the outside
And creepin’ to the door, it’s like they know
And now they’re coming, yeah, now they’re coming
Out from the shadows
To take me to the court because they know
Gotta shut this down
‘Cause they been watching all my windows
They gathered up the warrant ’cause they
You understand, I got a plan for us
I bet you didn’t know that I was dangerous
It must be fate, I found a place for us
I bet you didn’t know someone could love you this much
How could they know, how could they know
What I’ve been thinking?
Like they’re right inside my head because they know
Because they know, what I’ve been hiding
They’re right under my bed, they’re on patrol
Here they come, yeah, here they come
Out of the shadows
To take me to the court because they know
Gotta shut this down
‘Cause they’ve been watching all my windows
They gathered up the warrant ’cause they
You understand, I got a plan for us
I bet you didn’t know that I was dangerous
It must be fate, I found a place for us
I bet you didn’t know someone could love you this much
Nobody’s listening when we’re alone
Nobody’s listening, there’s nobody listening
No one can hear us when we’re alone
No one can hear us, no, no one can hear us
I’ve gotta get out of here
Sink down, into the dark
Keep on runnin’
And I’ve gotta get out of here
Keep on runnin’
Sink down, into the dark
You understand, I got a plan for us
I bet you didn’t know that I was dangerous
It must be fate, I found a place for us
I bet you didn’t know someone could love you this much
Valerie already shared two other videos for Dangerous. Here’s another one of Big Data performing at Los Angeles’s KROQ Red Bull Sound Space. While the studio version features Joywave’s Daniel Armbruster performing the vocals, this live version is performed by Alan Wilkis and Liz Ryan.
Enjoy!
This is actually one of several videos for Big Data’s Dangerous. Val shared two of them previously, here and here. However, the one above is my personal favorite because it features kitties!
This video was written and produced by Tom Borden and directed by Chris Ledoux.
And it features a lot of cats! Did I mention that?
Enjoy!
Whenever I watch this video, I was tempted to compare it to The Belko Experiment but, actually, the video came out before the movie. So, perhaps The Belko Experiment should be compared to this.
Of course, the suggestion in this video is that the office riot is a scheduled daily event, one that — like The Purge — is designed to keep people in their place.
Big Data is probably best known for Dangerous. Personally, I think Big Data is responsible for some of the most important music of the decade. You’re free to agree or disagree as long as you understand that I’m right.
Enjoy!
At the time of writing this post, I only now found out that official lyric videos are a thing. I guess they figured that if enough people were making them, then they might as well do it themselves. There’s also at least two other semi-official music videos for this song as well. One is a remix and the other was constructed using concert footage. I’m not doing those ones.
If you’ve only seen the version of this where they used marketing most people are familiar with as an analogy, then this one is worth your time. It isn’t really a lyric video in the traditional sense, but one that gets to the point while also throwing in some lyrics here and there. Just like that other version, this one is also worth downloading and looking at carefully. They did a good job filling it with all kinds of subtle details to go along with the obvious stuff.
The thing I like best about this music video is that while I still find that it unnecessarily breeds paranoia and is counterproductive, it doesn’t feel patronizing like the other one. It relies on you using your brain and looking deeper into things that aren’t obfuscated by bashing heads, gay for pay, and other nonsense.
One example is that they go through several artists to show that they register on the Google Knowledge Graph until they reach White Sea, which results in a Wikipedia entry. They then cut to White Sea having a Twitter page and Joywave, that showed up in the Knowledge Graph, having a Facebook Page. The obvious part is that the Google Knowledge Graph pulls together all kinds of information including birthdates into a central location. The more subtle part, that is quickly glossed over by the runtime, is that it implies that the Knowledge Graph places more weight on an artist having a Facebook page than a Twitter page. It also reaches back to the overarching idea that “Big Data” is useful for predictive algorithms that allow things like autocomplete and targeted advertising.
Another example is that the video actually takes place over several days. They don’t really draw attention to it either. If you just watch the upper right hand corner throughout the video, then you’ll notice the different times, the changing battery levels, and other things up there.
At the end of the day, I am obligated to like this as an EECS major because it is probably the only music video I will ever see that has the kmalloc function in it. It is in one of the lines of code that pops up when they go to hackertyper.net.
The posting on YouTube tells me that this music video was directed by SCANTRON and Greg Yagolnitzer. SCANTRON has done numerous music videos, including several for Weezer. I am assuming it is a pseudonym, or a name used by different directors who work for Scantron Films. I can only find a couple of animation credits for Yagolnitzer on IMDb, but a quick Google search turns up a few other music video credits.
Enjoy!
I’ve sat through a bunch of paranoia “documentaries”/propaganda, movies where somebody thinks they are the first person to discover the sky is blue, and watched too many reviews of Internet horror films this year. In particular, I remember one piece of propaganda masquerading as a documentary on Netflix that said if you take your kid down the cereal aisle, then it is like shooting heroin into their veins. As a result, I am pretty apathetic about this music video.
At the end of the day, it’s well-done. There is another version of this music video that uses the Unfriended (2014) screenshare-style that even references Chatroulette in 2014 like that movie did. I prefer that version. I think it’s more clever and to the point.
I think films like this are counterproductive, but if are going to watch it, then download it so you can look at it more carefully. They stuck in some Easter eggs that you are likely to miss if you can’t take it frame-by-frame. YouTube just doesn’t have that kind of fine-grain control. A couple of examples are the board they are writing on that says “Sustainable Earth” at the top of it and the actual words on the notepad that the guy is drawing a penis on.
I wish I had more to say. It’s one of those things that you’ll either love or think is pretentious garbage. There isn’t much middle ground in my opinion aside from appreciating the attention to detail that went into making it.
The directors of this music video are probably best known for their pornographic music video they did for Taggart And Rosewood called Drone Boning that was shot using a drone. It earned them a nomination at the SXSW Film Festival.
Enjoy!
Whenever we have visitors here at Shattered Lens HQ, the first thing that they always seem to notice is the wide variety of music being played. Considering the number of contributors that we have working here on any given day, it makes sense. After all, we all have our own individual tastes in music and we’re not afraid to play it loud.
Of course, I’m sure it can be somewhat jarring who is, for the first time, discovering the aural experience of walking down a hallway here at the TSL Building. As you walk by Necromoonyeti’s office, you hear the sounds of metal thunder. Across the hallway, Arleigh might very well be listening to The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. Even further down the hallway, you might hear the blogger known as Jedadiah Leland listening to anything from Nine Inch Nails to Ornette Coleman or maybe you’ll even hear my sister singing along with Beyonce. Eventually, you’ll reach my office and, nine times out of ten, I will be blasting EDM (or occasionally Britney Spears) and dancing, only turning the music down if Leonard Wilson stops by my office to continue our debate as to whether or not Aaron Sorkin is an overrated misogynist.
(Occasionally, if I’m lucky, I can convince Valerie Troutman to come to my office and sing the Degrassi theme song with me. Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through….)
Anyway, my point is that every writer at the Shattered Lens is an individual with her or his own taste in music, movies, and … well, everything. So, when you look at my list of my 10 favorite songs of 2015, you should keep in mind that these are my ten favorite songs and they do not necessarily reflect the musical opinions or tastes of anyone here at the Shattered Lens but me! And, in fact, if you want to see just how eclectic a group we here at the Shattered Lens, be sure to check out Necromoonyeti’s list of his favorite metal albums of 2015!
Anyway, here are my favorite songs of 2015. Notice that I didn’t say “best.” Instead, these are some of the songs that I spent the previous 12 months obsessively listening to. When I make my autobiographical movie about my life in 2015, these are the songs that will appear on the soundtrack!
Honorable Mention: Elle King — Ex’s and Oh’s
Ex’s and Oh’s has pretty much been my song all through 2015. However, the song itself was originally released in 2014 and this is a list of the best songs released in 2015. That said, hardly a day in 2015 went by without my listening to and singing along with this song and there’s no way I can’t include it.
Special Bonus Track Included Because Otherwise There Would Be 11 Songs Listed And Lisa Has A Phobia About Odd Numbers: Ellie Goulding — Love Me Like You Do
And now the list:
10) Adele — When We Were Young
9) Icona Pop — Emergency
8) Kelly Clarkson — Take You High
7) The Chemical Brothers — Sometimes I Feel So Deserted
6) Public Service Broadcasting — Go!
5) Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — Bad Blood
4) Purity Ring — Bodyache
3) Big Data (featuring Jamie Liddell) — Clean
2) Public Service Broadcasting — Gagarin
1) The Chemical Brothers (featuring St. Vincent) — Under Neon Lights
For my previous picks, check out 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014!
Tomorrow, I will be posting some of my favorite things that I saw on television in 2015!
Previous Entries In The Best of 2015:
Through the Shattered Lens 